Ideas for 3D-printed mods and accessories for robot vacuums

[HeKeyTech]

Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing well!

I've been an avid 3D-printing enthusiast for years, one of my areas of expertise has been in working on improving the functionality of robot vacuums. So far, printed cliff sensor covers and replacement drive gears engineered to the limit of FDM-printing have been the solution for thousands of people.

Wanting to explore new ideas and projects, I reached out to this group to see if anyone has encountered unique challenges with their robot vacuums or if there are any specific issues you'd like to see addressed through 3D-printed solutions.

I'm not looking to sell anything here; rather, I'm genuinely interested in hearing about the problems you face and the potential for collaborative problem-solving. So, if you have any thoughts, ideas, or experiences you'd like to share, please feel free to chime in. Let's brainstorm and see if we can come up with some exciting new projects that benefit as many people as possible!

If the product idea goes into printing and development with you, I will ship the prototypes for you for free. However, the idea has to be feasible from printing, shipping and time worth spent standpoint. That one we will find out easily by discussion.

Looking forward to your insights and suggestions!

Henri - HeKeyTech

[CodaCM]

One issue I come up with from time to time is that the older Roombas (400 series and earlier) use belts, the downside to that is on most of my 400 series Roomba's the belts just decay and turn into plastic.
I wondered if a gear-style drive system like the 500 series and newer instead of a belt was possible.
- CodaCM

[HeKeyTech]

One issue I come up with from time to time is that the older Roombas (400 series and earlier) use belts, the downside to that is on most of my 400 series Roomba's the belts just decay and turn into plastic.
I wondered if a gear-style drive system like the 500 series and newer instead of a belt was possible.
- CodaCM

Thanks for the suggestion!

How old are the Roombas when their belts deteriorate? Due to space constraints and the need of installing an odd number of extra gears (1, 3...) to replace a belt and keep the direction the same, it might prove very difficult to both design and to install retrofitted gearsets.

Are replacement belts available? It might be the easiest and cheapest solution to either replace with an original belt, and if those are not readily available, I could work with a belt manufacturer to make some custom sets. Especially if belt pitch is common, this won't be too expensive.

Would be interested to see the the insides of 400-series roomba. The only roomba I have is 500-series.